


playing with fire

by orphan_account



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Crossover, Earthbender Scott, Firebender Derek, M/M, Mild Gore, POV Derek Hale, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-21
Updated: 2014-05-21
Packaged: 2018-01-26 00:19:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1667810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Firebender that’s afraid of fire.</p>
<p>Derek knew the universe could be cruel, but this? This is just the universe laughing at him, saying, “Oh, you thought it was bad before? You thought your life was shit? Well it can get worse, buddy. It can always get worse.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	playing with fire

**Author's Note:**

> this is something i'm writing in between writing my other ATLA fic. it's not beta'd, there's literally no outline, i just wanted to write an ATLA fic from Derek's POV.
> 
> also, note:
> 
> stiles doesn't appear in this chapter. the next one is more than half written, and he's in it right away.

A Firebender that’s afraid of fire.

Derek knew the universe could be cruel, but this? This is just the universe laughing at him, saying, “Oh, you thought it was bad before? You thought your life was shit? Well it can get worse, buddy. It can always get worse.”

He had never been a prodigy (that was always Laura’s thing) but he had been powerful enough for his age. Now, he can’t even light a fucking campfire to keep himself warm at night. Instead, he lies on the cold ground and tries to stay warm without even a blanket, because everything he owned, aside from the clothes on his back, burned up in that fire a week ago.

Sometimes, Derek wonders if this is punishment for his naivety. There was a reason his family was so closely guarded after the rebellions started within the colonies and the people started turning against the Fire Lord. While Derek agreed that the man didn’t deserve his throne, and his father deserved to be jailed for the crimes he had helped commit as the Fire Lord’s advisor, it didn’t change the fact that he was a target and his mother wouldn’t allow him and Laura out without guards surrounding them.

He shouldn’t have disobeyed his mother.

He shouldn’t have trusted Kate.

He shouldn’t have snuck her into his room, and fallen asleep with his arms around her, but he had been angry.

There were people dying, actually calling themselves rebels for a purpose, and he, the spoiled son, threw a tantrum that ended with his family burning alive because his mother wanted to keep him safe.

Safe and alive.

There are nights where Derek sits with his knees drawn up to his chest, and he thinks that if this is his punishment, he deserves something much worse.

  
  
  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  
  


Derek doesn’t know where he’s going when he leaves the capital.

The first night, he sets up camp and tries to light a fire, but he finds that he can’t. The attempt he makes to call upon the heat within his veins that he has always used to fuel the flames makes him sick. He tries doing it the old fashioned way, using the matches that Laura had shoved in his bag the last time his uncle had taken him camping, but the smell of smoke makes his chest tighten and his vision blur.

He ends up doubled over in the bushes, coughing up the remains of his breakfast.

He doesn’t get much sleep that night.

  
  
  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  
  


The rebels are killed a month after the fire.

The Fire Lord makes a speech about the strength of the Fire Nation. He claims that the Hale Tragedy was the Gods testing their nation, and they prevailed. It makes Derek sick, to see a man so twisted using his family’s murders as propaganda. He wishes that he had remained in the capital to dispute the Fire Lord in person, but he knows that is just fantasy.

Even if he had the heart to remain in his hometown, he would not be able to say anything out of line. His welfare had always depended on how well they could suck up to the Fire Lord and his family.

Growing up, Derek had often watched his mother rant and rave before putting on a smile, pretending that she adored the man when he set foot through her doors. She forced her children to do the same when it came to the Fire Lord’s children, although Derek had once disobeyed and pushed the prince into the pond after Derek caught him teasing Cora’s dog.

The Fire Lord had sent a member of his guard over the next day. Derek and Cora had been forced to stand side by side, watching while the guard drove his sword into the dog.

Cora had screamed for hours.

  
  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  
  


He avoids any villages that he comes in his travels, because there’s always a chance someone will recognize him and that’s not what he wants.

What he wants is for people to forget about him, so when they speak of the Hales they never mention their eldest son that not only fucked everything up and got his family killed, but now he’s too afraid to Firebend. Such a useless fuck, huh?

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  


Derek doesn’t know if he’s actually afraid to Firebend.

He doesn’t think the panic he gets whenever he tries, or whenever he’s anywhere near flames, can be so easily summed up as just fear.

But he’s no doctor.

And what does it matter how he labels it?

At the end of the day, he’s still lost everything that made him who he was.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  


He stays in the nation long enough to hear about his family’s funeral. He doesn’t know why it takes months to get to it, but it’s an extravagant affair.

When an old man at the tea shop isn’t looking, Derek steals a paper and runs into the woods. He sits for hours, reading the article over and over, running his fingers over the pictures. There are people mourning in every one, and it should comfort him that others care about his family, but he knows that they don’t. They only care to see who can act the best, and who will look prettiest in the paper.

Disgust ferments in Derek’s stomach the longer he reads until he balls up the paper, struggling to regain control of his breath.

He doesn’t notice the smoke that starts to rise from the hand he holds the paper in.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  


The worst thing about the Fire Nation is that it’s an island, so it’s hard to just walk into another kingdom.

But at least they have ways to get there.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  


“Where does this ferry go?” Derek demands.

The bored attendee sitting at the desk sighs and gestures to the sign hanging next to them. “Harbor Town, in the Earth Kingdom,” he replies before smirking. It makes Derek want to hit him. “But I think the tickets are a little costlier than what you can afford.”

Derek bristles, though he knows he shouldn’t. He’s been wearing the same clothes for ages now. His hair is dirty and shaggy from growing out without being tended to, because he had to cut off the traditional ponytail as soon as he decided to flee. He may not be a wanted criminal, but he still didn’t want to be recognized.

Still, he’s a Hale. He was born into money older than the Nation itself, and he has probably ordered meals at restaurants that cost more than this man’s house.

“I want one ticket,” Derek says, tugging off his backpack to begin digging around in it.

“Sir, these tickets co-”

“I know how much they cost. I can read,” Derek snarls before pulling out a stack of notes. He slaps them on the counter and glares at the other man. “Give me my ticket.”

The man stares at the notes for a few moments, shock etched into every line of his face, before handing Derek his ticket.

“The ferry leaves in twenty minutes.”

“How long will it take to get to Harbor Town?” Derek asks.

“Two days, as long as all goes well,” the man adds with a chuckle.

He knows that the man’s just saying that to scare him.

Derek shoulders his bag once more, and tries to pretend that he didn’t succeed.

  
  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  
  


Little secret about ferry rides: Derek’s never liked them.

He doesn’t think he can be blamed for that, though. He’s a Firebender. He’s not supposed to spend his time surrounded by so much water. Not only that, but people on ferries are rude.

“Move it, dumbass,” a boy growls, shoving Derek into the rail. His hands curl into fists at his sides, and he thinks it’s a real testament to his self control that he doesn’t hit him.

“Asshole,” Derek mutters beneath his breath.

The boy stops in the middle of walking and slowly turns to face Derek. He’s got beady eyes, Derek notes. Beady blue eyes that are looking at him as if he wants to pick Derek up and wring his neck.

“What did you call me?” the boy demands, drawing himself to his full height. The two guards that he was walking with come up to stand behind him. Derek has seen more impressive posturing from Fire Nation schoolboys.

“You heard me,” Derek snaps. “Maybe next time you can ask me nicely. I might step aside then.”

“You watch how you speak to me,” the boy snarls, pointing at Derek threateningly. “I am from the Whittemore House, my father is an advisor to the Earth King. You will give me the respect I deserve.”

Derek snorts, because he knows the Whittemores. And now that the boy has named himself, it’s easy to recognize Jackson. Derek never liked him much, even though they rarely interacted. He’s heard enough about the tantrums the boy threw in court, and during parties. He’s also heard of the boy’s cruelty.

The guards standing behind Jackson have drawn their blades and Derek’s eyes narrow.

“Tell your guard to sheath their swords,” Derek growls.

“You don’t tell me what to do!” Jackson shrieks.

Derek looks back at Jackson, opening his mouth to offer a swift retort, but before he can say a word a woman that has been lingering on the sidelines darts in front of him. “Jackson,” she smiles, all predatory, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulders. She’s dressed in the usual greens and yellows of the Earth Kingdom and Derek thinks it’s safe to assume that her family is high ranking if she dares to address Jackson by his give name.

“Erica,” Jackson grunts. “Move aside. I’m busy.”

“Yeah, I noticed that,” Erica agrees. “But you want to know something else, Jackie? I noticed that there are a lot of people from the Fire Nation on this ship. In fact, considering that this ship originally departed from the Fire Nation, I think it’s safe to assume that we are the minority here.”

“So? What does that have to do with me?”

“Everything,” Erica snaps. She grabs Derek by the upper arm and yanks him forward, gesturing at his...everything. “You are a fool if you think that this boy-”

“Man,” Derek interrupts.

“Excuse me. This man,” Erica drawls, rolling her eyes at him. “Is a member of our nation. Now, Jackson, do you think the people of the Fire Nation would react so kindly to any hostility from the Earth Kingdom? Or, better yet, do you think the Fire Lord would be particularly pleased if he found out that the Earth Kingdom was doling out their own punishments on his people?”

Derek tries to hide his grin, but he doesn’t think he succeeds. It’s not his fault, though. He can’t help that he finds himself liking this Erica for reducing Jackson to a gaping fool in front of him. The man’s guards look at each other before quietly sheathing their weapons. That seems to draw Jackson back to their world.

“We’re on a ship heading to the Earth Kingdom.”

“Yes,” Erica agrees. “But this ship is always considered Fire Nation. Until this ship docks, and this passenger sets foot on Earth Kingdom territory, he’s ruled under the Fire Lord’s laws. What would your father say if you challenged the Fire Lord?” she adds, tilting her head with a sweet smile that Derek knows hides promises of hurt. “You’re not even a bender, Jackson. He’d kick your ass in an Agni Kai.”

Jackson flounders for another few moments before he turns to Derek. “I will find you as soon as this ship docks,” he hisses. The guards behind him grunt menacingly before they all stalk off to go fuck themselves or something.

“I look forward to our reunion!” Derek calls before looking over at Erica. “You do realize that’s not how an Agni Kai works, right? Jackson wouldn’t be allowed to participate. He’s not a Firebender.”

Erica snorts. “Of course I know that, but he doesn’t. Now, we haven’t been formally introduced,” she says, stepping in front of him. “My name is Erica Reyes.”

“Reyes? As in the King’s Guard general?” Derek asks before he can stop himself.

"The one and only,” she confirms with a grin. “You know a lot about Earth Kingdom politics, Fire Nation. So, who are you?”

_Lie,_ Derek tells himself, because he can’t risk having anyone know who he really is. Kate meant to kill his entire family, and he doesn’t want to think about what will happen if he starts using his real name, and the Argents figure out where he is.

“I’m Ma-”

“Liar,” Erica cuts him off and Derek’s eyes widen.

“What?”

“You were about to lie to me,” Erica says and looks at him with an exaggerated pout. “Which isn’t really a nice thing to do, Derek Hale.”

  
  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  
  


“Your sister was a good friend of mine,” Erica says, looking out at the moonlight water while they sit side by side. After the whole Jackson ordeal, Derek had dragged her off to a more secluded section of the ferry. He had been itching to know how Erica recognized who he was, but he hadn’t been prepared to talk about his family.

“Cora?” Derek asks, but he already knows the answer. He can easily imagine Cora and Erica wreaking havoc together. Looking back, he thinks he remembers his sister sometimes having a blonde hair girl tagging along. A blonde hair girl that was prone to long visits with the healer, and suddenly he remembers the time Cora was climbing a cliff with her friend. He had stood beneath, yelling at them to get down before they got hurt, when her friend started shaking and she just...fell.

And he had been helpless to do a thing.

“You remember me now?” Erica asks.

“Do you...do you still,” Derek pauses, biting his lip as he tries to think of a way to word his question that won’t offend Erica, but she speaks before he can.

“Do I still have seizures? Yeah, sometimes,” Erica says with a shrug. “Doesn’t stop me from putting assholes like Jackson in their place, though.”

They’re both quiet for some time, left in their own memories while they look out upon the water. Derek’s startled from thoughts of his sister by Erica carefully placing one of her hands on top of his hand.

“I’m sorry about your family,” Erica says without looking at him.

On reflex, Derek almost pulls away from her touch and her words, but there’s more than pity in them. There’s her own hurt hurt, too, and Derek finds himself holding on.

“Cora talked about you sometimes. Not with me, we weren’t that close,” Derek admits. “But you were her best friend, Erica, and you made her happy. The week before...the week before the fire, our cousin disappeared. Do you remember that?”

“She wrote me,” Erica confirms.

“Yeah, and the letter you wrote back...I don’t know what you said, she never showed us. But she was better, Erica. She was happier. You made my little sister’s last days good ones,” he says, squeezing her hand. “Thank you.”

Derek doesn’t know how long it takes before Erica is sitting close to him, head resting on his shoulder while she sleeps. It’s the most physical contact he’s had in months and it unnerves him a little, but he doesn’t move away until the sun begins to rise, staining the waters around them with red and pink hues. The rest of the passengers are emerging from their rooms, or whatever crawl spaces they sought out to sleep in.

He manages to shrug off his backpack without waking Erica, and pulls out the threadbare blanket he had managed to swipe from a stack on the lower deck. It’s easy to lay her out, putting the blanket beneath her head like a pillow.

Under normal circumstances, he’d be worried about just leaving her there. There are people that make a living by sneaking onto ferries, stealing from those that are foolish enough to sleep without another pair of eyes to watch over them, but Erica isn’t alone. Her guards had done a decent job of hiding, but Derek’s always been good at spotting people.

He can’t help but give them a little wave when he goes.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  
  


Derek spends the next day on the lowest deck, because he knows Erica’s guards won’t allow her there. It was nice, to sit with someone and not have to worry about whether or not they wanted to kill him, but he didn’t leave home to make friends. He left to escape, well, everything.

Not that it’s really working.

There are still times where he stands next to the railing and considers throwing himself into the ocean, but he’s too afraid of pain to follow through.

So of course it’s the last night of the trip when he’s almost forced to do so.

He’s leaning over the rail, watching the water as the ferry cuts through it, when a hand grabs onto his shoulder. Startled, he falls forward, and he can’t help the alarmed yelp he lets out before the hand abruptly pulls him back. He’s turned, and slammed with his back to the railing.

“Oh, fuck,” Derek sighs and the man that had grabbed him bares his teeth like a fucking animal. God, Derek hates bandits, and he hates them even more when they’re such walking cliches. “What do you want from me?”

“Your money,” the first man says, in a voice that is surprisingly high pitched.

“I don’t have money,” Derek lies.

The man withdraws a dagger on his belt and shakes his head. “Know you do,” the man says, and one of the figures standing behind him smirks at Derek as the dagger is placed dangerously close to his throat. “Cost money to board the ship.”

“And that was all the money I had,” Derek says, leaning away from the dagger. “All I have left is my charming smile,” he adds, smiling.

The sole woman grimaces. “That’s horrifying.”

Derek glares. “That’s rude.”

“Enough,” the man snaps, pressing the blade into Derek’s throat. He can feel it draw a few drops of blood and it makes rage boil up inside of him, because he doesn’t need this. He just wants to get to the fucking Earth Kingdom and forget everything about who he was. And he’d prefer to do it with his throat intact.

His anger doesn’t change the fact that he’s outnumbered, though, and without a weapon.

_With your firebending, you could take them all. It’d be easy,_ a small voice inside his head whispers.

Derek hates that voice.

“Give us your money-”

“And I won’t get hurt,” Derek finishes, before bringing his hand up. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to disarm the man before him. The man is big, but Derek’s starting to think that he’s actually more of a boy, and his thoughts are confirmed when he pulls off the mask to reveal a face that is too young for the hulking body it resides in.

“Do you think you are playing a game?” Derek hisses, pressing the dagger now in his hands against the boy’s throat. He looks over at the boy’s companions. The woman (no, a girl. They’re all fucking children, fuck them) looks scared beneath her mask. “Drop your weapons.”

“We just want money for food,” the girl whines, but she does as she’s told.

Derek doesn’t respond. He just looks at the other boy until he, too, drops his weapon.

“Kick them my way,” Derek instructs.

When they do, he reaches out with his left foot and brings the blades back until they fall over the side of the boat, and into the ocean.

“If I see you three again, I will kill you,” Derek hisses. “And I will not be so kind as to use a blade,” he adds. “Have you ever wondered what it’s like to burn alive?” he asks, lowering his voice to a whisper that only the boy whose throat he’s currently pressing a dagger against can hear.

The boy lets out a whimper, and Derek snorts, stepping back. The three of them leave without saying another word. He watches them run before turning to throw the dagger into the sea.

“Kids,” Derek sighs, rolling his eyes. “I hate kids.”

  
  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  
  
  


As the second eldest, Derek hadn’t been allowed to accompany his father on most of his trips. The honor had always been given to Laura, who would preen and promise to bring Derek something nice, although she never did. However, when he was ten, Laura fell ill before a planned trip, and so his father chose to take Derek along instead. They had gone to Ba Sing Se to meet with the Whittemores, but the Earth Kingdom officials guiding them there had wanted to show off more of their country, and so they had stopped in Harbor Town.

Ten years ago, Harbor Town was a bustling port, with vendors lining every corner of the street. Aside from the introduction of Earth Nation soldiers, standing on corners looking spectacularly grim, the port hasn’t changed much. As soon as the ferry docks, and the passengers are allowed off, Derek is gone. He thinks he can hear someone calling his name while he disappears into a crowd of people, but he doesn’t bother to look back.

Jackson’s promise still rings in his ears, and although he knows the boy is a coward, he wouldn’t put it past Jackson to have found someone on the ferry to carry out his dirty work for him. Defeating the three “bandits” had been a fluke. Derek knows better than to think that he can actually take down more than two people in battle without the aid of weapons, or his bending.

God, he misses his bending.

Non benders exist, and they go about their lives just fine, but that doesn’t stop Derek from feeling funny. He misses the sense of control he received whenever he successfully bended flames. He feels empty, and like every emotion inside of him is boiling up inside, threatening to spill over at the most inconvenient moment.  

He thanks the Gods that his training focused on a lot of control, because otherwise he thinks that he would have exploded by now. Instead, he’s left in this weird limbo, where he knows that he can bend (whatever connection that grants a bender their abilities hasn’t been severed), but he can’t bring himself to.

“Rest,” Derek tells him, slipping down another street. “Rest and then practice.”

The only trouble is, Derek doesn’t have anywhere to rest. He toys with the idea of seeking shelter within one of the city’s alleys, but he knows better than that. Harbor Town has a high level of crime, almost rivaling the capital’s. If he wants to be reasonably sure that he won’t wake up with a knife held to his throat, he’ll have to rent a room.

Most of the inns in town are filled to capacity. It’s well past midnight when Derek trudges into one on the very edge of the town, right next to a twisting trail that leads up into the mountains.

“How much will a room cost me for the night?” Derek asks tiredly, leaning against the bar.

“Forty, my dear. Plus ten if you want dinner,” the old woman adds, turning around as she speaks. Her eyes widen at the sight of him and she shakes her head with a sigh. “I’m growing tired of seeing children come into my inn. This nation is struggling because our adults never bother to actually raise their young. It’s a pity. When I was a gi-”

“I just need a key to my room,” Derek says, cutting her off. He’s well aware that he sounds rude, but he doesn’t care. He just wants to sleep. “And what do you have for dinner?”

“You missed out on the soup,” the woman says. It’s a lie. Derek can see some in the pot behind her. He doesn’t bother calling her out on it, though. If she really wanted to, she could turn him out of the inn instead of denying him fresh soup.

“Do you have anything else? I haven’t eaten all day,” Derek tells her, rummaging through her bag. He places the last of his money on the counter. It’s just enough to cover the cost of the room for the night, plus the dry bread the woman shoves at him.

He doesn’t know what he’s going to do tomorrow, but he supposes he’ll deal with that when tomorrow comes. For now, Derek takes the food to his room, and eats in silence.

When he’s done, he lies on top of the covers, far too tired to bother crawling beneath them.

Sleep comes to him slowly, dragging him into a world that taste like ash and smells of smoke.

It’s with Kate’s laughing face imprinted in his mind that he wakes, sweaty and gasping for breath.

“Fuck,” Derek sighs, rolling onto his side and clutching his pillow.

Moments later, there’s a knocking at his door.

“Time to clear out, boy!”

Derek glares out the window. The sun has barely risen.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  
  


Here’s the thing about the city: it’s a good place to be, but only if you have a business.

Otherwise, there aren’t enough odd jobs around to keep someone fed and off the streets. Derek sees children half his age unloading trade ships for a handful of coins that aren’t enough to buy them day old bread.

He sees those same children later being brought to jail by the soldiers posted around the city, screaming with ugly tears rolling down their cheeks, whatever food they stole clutched tightly in one hand.

“Rotten thieves,” an old man once said to Derek while he stood beside the man’s shop.

Derek had nodded his agreement, while slipping a package of meat into his pocket. “They got what was coming,” he said, before slipping away.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  


He was always careful when he stole, never taking from the same place twice. He avoided quiet streets, and always kept away from the soldiers, but he supposes he should have known better than to think he was above getting caught.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  
  


“Catch that boy! He took from me! Get him!”

“Out of my way. Out of my way. Fucking move,” Derek snarls, shoving people to the side as he weaves through the crowds.

The occasional person makes an attempt to grab at him or his clothing, but his training with Peter had taught him how to avoid being pummeled by people far bigger than him, so twisting out of their grip is easy.

It doesn’t take him long to cut through the streets until he reaches the place where he had left the little girl and her brother. Part of him wants to be angry, because he didn’t even need the cabbage that he had swiped from the old man. They had begged him to get it, trailed him all of yesterday even when he snapped at them to fuck off, only stopping when Derek bed down for the night so they could lay beside him.

“Here,” Derek says, shoving the cabbage into the girl’s hands. “You both need to go. People are following me, so they might not stop you, but you don’t want to risk it.”

The girl looks up at him with wide eyes and he finds himself wondering what her name even is. He scolds himself for that thought, because it’s not important. It’s not like he’ll be seeing either of these two kids again.

For a second, he feels angry with himself. Living here wasn’t fun, or easy, but he had gotten used to it. And now he had jeopardized not only his home, but his freedom, for two kids that weren’t even his responsibility.

That anger fades when the girl whispers her thanks and pulls her brother to his feet. They’re both dirty, and obviously hungry, but he’s barely able to stand. It makes something heavy settle uncomfortably in his chest, but before he can linger on it he becomes aware of the sounds of people closing in on them.

“Go,” Derek orders, waiting until they’ve slipped away before he starts running again.

“You! Stop!”

He can’t help but roll his eyes while he runs, because it’s not like that’s ever worked.

“I said, stop!”

Derek looks over his shoulder, frowning at the sight of three soldiers running behind him. They all look pissed to be running so much. It makes sense, since Derek’s never seen any of them actually want to do their job and protect the port. They just like to pick on the children.

He flips them the bird.

Unfortunately, Derek’s never been much of a runner, and it doesn’t take long for him to start to tire. He can feel himself slowing, so he decides to take a chance by ducking into the alley. Sometimes there are good places to duck into, if he can put on enough speed to round a corner before the men behind him, but it soon becomes clear that there’s nowhere to hide, and even if there was, he doesn’t have the energy to get that far ahead of the soldiers.

“Fuck,” Derek curses, when he turns left and is greeted by a dead end. Before he can try to run the other way, the soldiers come around the same corner, ugly grins on their faces.

“You should’ve just stopped back there. Then all you’d of gotten was a little slap on the wrist for your crime.”

“Crime?” Derek echoes, the same anger from earlier flaring up inside of him. “There was no crime.”

“You stole from an old man’s shop.”

“To feed two hungry children,” Derek says, looking the soldiers up and down. He sneers at them, not bothering to hide his disgust. “But then again, I’ve seen how much you all get off on dragging children to jail. It’s the only time I’ve ever actually seen the lot of you doing your jobs, so, I apologize for taking away your evening fun.”

One of the men steps closer until he’s close enough that Derek can feel his breath on his face.

“You little shit,” the man says.

Behind him, one of his companions jeers, “That’s right, teach him, Riv.”

Which really doesn’t give Derek much to work with in terms of a sassy comeback, so he does the next best thing.

He spits in his face.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
  
  


For three men that seem overly keen on avoiding their duties, it doesn’t take them long to trap Derek with his hands behind his back. Riv stands in front of him, smirking.

“Like I said, you should’ve just stopped when you told you. Then none of this would have happened,” Riv adds.

When he swings his fist, Derek can tell exactly where the hit is going to land, but that doesn’t stop the pain that explodes on the left side of his face. He knows men like this, so he doesn’t say a thing as Riv beats on him. They would probably stop sooner, if Derek begged or cried, but that’s what they want him to do.

He has never been in the business of giving people what they want.

When he’s not sure he’ll be able to take the next hit without passing out, they let him go. One of the soldiers removes his backpack and throws it to Riv.

“Let’s take a look through here,” he almost hums, beginning to rifle through its contents.

Derek’s so focused on trying to stay conscious that he barely notices Riv dumping all his belongings on the ground until the man stops and makes a quiet noise.

“What’s this? You play with dolls?”

Riv holds out an ash covered doll while he speaks and Derek’s chest tightens. He almost forgot that was in there. It’s been so long since he’s actually bothered to go through his stuff.

“You put that back,” Derek says.

“I would, but then I wouldn’t be helping you out, and that’s my job,” Riv says, smirking, before nodding to one of the other soldiers.

Derek watches as they light a match and hold the doll near it, grinning like children that have just been promised buckets of candy.

“Put it back,” Derek repeats.

Riv’s smirk widens. “No.”

The doll catches fire easily. Derek can’t help but wonder, as he pushes his aching body off the ground, why Cora chose something that fell victim to flames so quickly. Did she not have any brains?

Before he’s really aware of it, Derek has the doll clutched in one hand, the second one covering it.

“Fucking ass-” Riv starts, but before he can finish Derek lifts his second hand.

Fire sits cradled in his palm, enlarging and shrinking, in tune with his breathing.

“You’re a Firebender,” one of the other two men whispers.

“You burnt my sister’s doll,” Derek whispers. He looks between the men, his heart pounding in his chest, the fire growing larger and he can’t stop it (doesn’t even know how he’s still holding it, because he thinks he’s going to pass out) so he pretends that this is what he wants to happen.

The soldiers start to shrink back and Derek can feel the flames reaching for him. The entire alley is starting to smell overwhelmingly like smoke. He tries to shorten his breaths so he won’t draw in more smoke, but the blackness that is all he can see starts to overwhelm his vision and it’s awful he doesn’t like it he doesn’t want it he doesn’t-

“Hey!”

The fire is gone.

Derek’s gaze snaps to the entrance of the alley just as the soldiers all turn.

“Just what the hell are you three doing,” a man says. He looks like he’s from the Earth Kingdom, carries himself and speaks with the voice of a man that’s used to having his orders taken, but he’s not in the army.

“S-sheriff. We didn’t know you were going to be in town.”

“I said, what the hell are you doing,” the man (Sheriff, he guesses) repeats, stepping closer.

“We were, uhm, just taking in t-this boy. He was stealing, sir. But we caught him. It’s under control.”

“Under control?” the Sheriff repeats. “He’s been beaten so bad I can barely see his face and all of you were about to be burnt to crisps, but yes. It’s under control,” he snorts. “The three of you, leave.”

“With all due respect, sir, we aren’t in Beacon. You have no jurisdiction-”

“Quiet,” the Sheriff snaps, glaring at the soldier that dared to speak before he shakes his head. “The three of you are only guards of a port city. The army didn’t even see you fit enough to send out to guard an actual fort, so don’t you try to tell me anything about my job. Now leave, or I will call your commander, and he can explain that my jurisdiction extends here as well.”

“N-no. No need to do that,” one soldier says, grabbing at his companions. None of them turn their backs on the Sheriff as they edge their way down the alley. “We’re sorry. Really sorry,” he adds before they round the corner and are gone.

The Sheriff watches after them for a few moments before turning back to Derek, who sways a little on his feet. The panic that had gripped him earlier has faded, but he still feels like collapsing.

“What’s your name, son?” the Sheriff asks, coming to stand beside Derek.

He stays awake long enough to mutter “James” (his father’s name, he’s the least creative person to exist) before he collapses.

Into the Sheriff’s arms.

Wonderful.

**Author's Note:**

> if you wanna find me on tumblr, my blog is sourskitles.
> 
> i have a personal, l0chnessa, but i'm not on there as much right now.
> 
> no idea when i'll update this next, hopefully soon? i have a lot of free time finally.
> 
> also, anonymous commenting is disabled because i get too much flack if i have a scott centric fic. if i can't allow anonymous comments on those fics, then i'm not going to have it on other of my others. sorry.


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